para bellum
Diamond Member
I read through this thread and nothing Mushroom said is wrong. The Patriot is a (relatively) short-range anti-aircraft system that can deal with aircraft and cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.Quit trying to move the goalposts.
Regarding the OP, I stopped reading when I got to "Scott Ritter was one of 3 people that understood the Oreshnik missile". I knew where that was going, which was waaaay down the propaganda hole.
Mushroom is also right when he said that missile makes no real sense to use in Ukraine. The MIRVs had no explosives on them, it was just the kinetic energy of the inert warhead. It was just a demonstration, and an implied threat from Putin that he could still escalate further.
That missile is designed to carry a nuclear payload, and launching one against the US or NATO would be an extremely stupid thing to do, for the reason stated- there is no way for us to know it's not a nuke.
Our ABM systems can handle that kind of missile without much stress and we have demonstrated that with Standard Missile and THAAD and GBI. (We could use more of all of those)
Mushroom- I like the idea of AESA ashore in the CONUS.
Hypersonics- For many years in aerospace, when we referred to hypersonics, we were talking about air-breathing Mach 5+. Everyone already knows it's easy to get hypersonic speeds with rocket motors.
That means SCRAMJET motors, which are notoriously hard to keep lit but we and others are working on them. That is sustained atmospheric flight at hypersonic speeds, and those vehicles can be maneuverable.
There is another hypersonic that has some maneuverability, and that is boost-glide. That is launched into space on a rocket, with a gliding maneuverable re-entry vehicle. China has demonstrated a boost-glide hypersonic capability.
Maneuverability at high speeds is a small turn, but the speed makes it a large correction. The SR-71 flew at Mach 3 and 100,000 feet, and it was never shot down because it's almost impossible to catch one in a tail-chase. 4000 times they tried to shoot down SR-71, and 4000 times they failed. A 10 degree course adjustment defeats the missile.
When the USSR expanded their radar coverage to provide for better early warning, and developed better anti-aircraft missiles, SR-71 became to risky and we stopped overflights.
Maneuverability at hypersonic speeds is not jinking around and making quick moves- it's a slight turn that makes it really hard to intercept because the distances involved, the interceptor missile runs out of fuel before it can get to the target.